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Netanyahu Tells UN To Move Lebanon Peacekeepers Out Of ‘Harm’s Way’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the UN chief to move peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of “harm’s way”, claiming Hezbollah used them as “human shields”.
His appeal to UN chief Antonio Guterres came a day after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being injured amid recent fighting.
“Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office, in his first comments on the issue.
Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting, he said Israeli forces had asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it had “met with repeated refusals” that provided a “human shield to Hezbollah terrorists”.
“Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” the premier said.
“We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone.”
UNIFIL has refused to leave its positions in southern Lebanon.
“There was a unanimous decision to stay because it’s important for the UN flag to still fly high in this region, and to be able to report to the Security Council,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP in an interview on Saturday.
He said Israel had asked UNIFIL to withdraw from positions “up to five kilometres (three miles) from the Blue Line” separating both countries, but the peacekeepers refused.
That would have included its 29 positions in south Lebanon.
UNIFIL, a mission of about 9,500 troops of various nationalities, was created following Israel’s 1978 invasion of Lebanon.
It is currently tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.
Forty contributor nations to UNIFIL said on Saturday that they “strongly condemn recent attacks” on the peacekeepers
“Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” said the joint statement, posted on X by the Polish UN mission and signed by nations including leading contributors Indonesia, Italy and India.
Netanyahu said the criticism of Israel was misplaced and should be directed at Hezbollah.
“Instead of criticising Israel, they should direct their criticism to Hezbollah, which uses UNIFIL as a human shield, just as Hamas in Gaza uses UNRWA as a human shield,” he said of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“Unfortunately, UNRWA also cooperates with Hamas there.”
In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA’s Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
A series of probes found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees “may have been involved” in the attack.
AFP
Headline
Power Sector Reforms Will Lead To Sustainability, Says Adelabu

The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to setting the power sector on the path of sustainability and bankability, by prioritising the different reforms being undertaken in the sector. This is critical to the economic growth and development of the nation.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu disclosed this on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at the Mission 300 Stakeholders Engagement meeting, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, where he announced that the estimated investment required for the Mission 300 Compact is $32.8 billion, with $15.5 billion expected from the private sector. The Mission is to provide electricity to 300million unserved people in Africa.

He said the stakeholders meeting would provide an opportunity for them to align, strategize, and to build the partnerships needed to move from Nigeria Energy Compact, to concrete results, as he called on development partners, the private sector, philanthropic actors, the public sector, and the civil society organizations to rally around this mission.
“Mobilizing this level of financing will demand innovation, coordination, and a shared commitment.
“In this room today are many of the institutions and individuals who can help us shape the future of Nigeria’s energy sector. Let us take this opportunity to ask hard questions, identify the practical solutions, and develop actionable plans that will make universal access a reality not just in the policy space, but in the daily lives of our citizens by powering our hospitals, our schools, our industries, and our homes”, Adelabu said.

He announced the priorities of the government in power sector reforms to include “adressing the market liquidity issues and initiating required sector reforms”.
“Currently”, he added, “there’s a huge outstanding debt to the Power Generation companies in the form of unpaid government subsidies which stands at about ₦4trn as of December 2024. The Federal Government is already working out modalities to defray this obligation and to ensure that further obligations are not accrued going forward, the government is working on a plan to transition the sector to a fully cost-reflective regime while implementing targeted subsidies for the economically vulnerable citizens in the country.
“Improving our power generation through recovery of idle capacities and expanding energy mix to ensure energy security, and to dilute the power pool with cheaper and cleaner energy sources”.
Other areas he identified included “Expanding transmission infrastructure to deliver more power, ensuring stability of the national grid to put and end to several grid disturbances and collapses previously observed on the grid, and to further strengthen the coordination and management of the national grid.
“Ensuring viability and performance improvement of the distribution segment of the power sector through strategic programs like the Presidential Metering Initiative and the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP)”.

The Minister also said that the Power Ministry is pursuing increased renewable energy through its rural electrification and energy transition drive, to provide a reliable power supply to unserved and underserved communities.
Through its training institute, the Ministry is also working to improve human capital and local content development in the sector to reduce import dependence, stimulate jobs, and build a homegrown energy industry.
“I assure you”, he continued “that the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is fully committed to this vision and through the Federal Ministry of Power, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, we will continue to champion reforms, promote innovation, and partner with all stakeholders to deliver a sustainable energy future”.
He expressed the appreciation of the Federal Government to the World Bank Group under the leadership of Mr Ajay Banga and the African Development Bank under the leadership of the out going Managing Director of the Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and Sustainable Energy for All for taking on this mission to connect 300 million people across Africa to electricity by the year 2030 through the Mission 300 initiative, saying, “this ambition reflects our shared belief that energy access is a fundamental issue that must be urgently addressed to unlock economic potential of the continent”.
According to Adelabu, in January 2025 at the Dar es Salaam Africa Energy Summit, President Tinubu joined eleven other African Heads of State in endorsing the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration and formally committing to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Mission 300.
“We presented our National Energy Compact, a bold statement of intent and ambition to fast-track access to both electricity and clean cooking for all Nigerians with the aim of achieving universal access by 2030 by increasing the rate of electricity access from 4 percent to 9 percent per annum and raising access to clean cooking from 22 percent to 25 percent per annum”, he said.
The Minister of Finance, Chief Wale Edun, who spoke through zoom from Brazil also said that the reforms the government was undertaking in the power sector were critical towards unlocking the full potentials of the economy as it would lead to job creation. He said the reforms have led to over 40 percent increase in power distribution in the first quarter of 2025.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Nnaji, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, the World Bank Officers, head of agencies in the Power Ministry, and partners of the sector.
Headline
Senate Denies Snubbing Reps Bills, Says No Garbage In, Garbage Out

During the plenary on Tuesday, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, clarified the Senate’s position, underpinning that the upper chamber has been diligent in attending to bills forwarded by the House.
Responding to recent claims that the Senate had failed to act on over 140 House-passed bills, including several sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the Senate leader disclosed that the Senate considered no fewer than six concurrence bills just last week.
The Senate President said, “We cannot joke with concurrence bills from the House of Representatives, we are committed to working together in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. It takes two hands to clap.”
This reaction by the Senate leadership followed a slight tension experienced at the House of Representatives last week when members of the green chamber resolved to suspend further consideration of bills originating from the Senate, citing what it described as persistent delays in legislative concurrence from the red chamber.
But Bamidele, while presenting one of the bills from the House during plenary on Tuesday, explained that the Senate has remained consistent in processing concurrence bills in line with constitutional responsibilities.
He said, “For the record, we have been doing what we are supposed to do. Only last week, the Senate concurred on six bills from the House of Representatives. We know we have the principle of reciprocity that governs our operations, but this does not necessarily mean garbage in, garbage out.
“We have the duty, as the foremost democratic institution in the country, to exercise due diligence on the bills. We will continue to consider concurrence bills from the House of Representatives in the same way they considered our bills. We will ensure that it is given attention in overriding public interest. I just want to say this for the record.”
The leadership assured the public that the Senate remained committed to a productive and cooperative relationship with the House of Representatives, underscoring that legislative harmony is essential for national progress.
News
Gov Alia launches Quick Response Squad to tackle insecurity in Benue

Governor Alia was represented at the official inauguration of the squad by his Deputy, Dr Sam Ode.
The QRS is a joint operation comprising personnel from the Civilian Protection Guard (CPG), Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), local hunters, and the Joint Task Force (JTF).
The squad is designed to respond swiftly and effectively to threats, particularly in vulnerable communities across Benue.
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